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The signs of history

Polly E. Chavez

Posted:
12/18/2012 05:41:13 PM MST

On our way to Albuquerque, as my husband drove, I hummed Christmas music along the highway with the car radio. I recalled the Christmas tradition of putting coal instead of goodies in a stocking and using coal to make snowman features. Suddenly I shouted to my husband, "Stop!"

I spotted a scenic historic marker as we approached San Antonio. I remembered reading in Roadside History of New Mexico about San Pedro, an old Spanish settlement on the banks of the Rio Grade established in the 1830s. Authors Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate tell that grapes were the principal crop, and, at the turn of the centur,y some 250 barrels of native wine were being shipped out of San Antonio.

They add that there also was a coal mine at San Pedro.

My patient husband stopped at the roadside marker and allowed me to read the information: San Pedro was established in the 1840s on the east banks of the Rio Grande and San Pedro became an important trading center along the Camino Real, the sister village of San Antonio was nearby. San Pedro was once known for its extensive vineyards and other agriculture produce. "The village waxed and waned over the years, declining significantly in the 1940s, and now is almost abandoned."

The authors of Roadside History of New Mexico tell of another town, Gray. In 1899, the EP&NE railroad built a branch line to coal mines, a mile northeast of Gray. This mining community, named Coalora, no longer exists. Gray became Capitan; named after the surrounding mountains.

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My attention re-focused on the Christmas tradition of putting coal in Christmas stockings. Now mostly done as a gag gift, the tradition was a scare tactic by parents and grandparents to keep naughty boys and girls in line. Coal was abundant in coal mining towns or at railroad coal bins as were found in the towns like Carrizozo, that owe their beginnings to the railroad.

Some people had no fireplace so the Christmas stockings were placed by their bedposts so that Santa Claus (St. Nicolas) could fill it by the bed as they were sleeping. What children got in their stockings was often the only gifts they received at Christmas.

The reason for the season is "Christ" in Christmas and traditions come from the giving aspect of the event. The malicious actions of the individual at the Connecticut school have put a damper on Christmas traditions, but may the families of the people, whose lives were cut short, find peace during this sad time for them and our nation.